Muslim Communities In North America

This book provides a look at Muslim life and institutions forming in North America. It considers the range of Islamic life in North America with its different racial-ethnic and cultural identities, customs, and religious orientations. Issues of acculturation, ethnicity, orthodoxy, and the changing roles of women are brought into focus. The authors provide insight into the lives of recent immigrants who are asking what is Islamically appropriate in a non-Muslim environment. Contrasts are drawn between Sunni and Shi'i groups, and attention is given to the activities of some Sufi organizations. The growing Islamic community among African-American Muslims is examined, including the followers of Warith Deen Muhammed and the sectarians identified with black power, such as the Nation of Islam, Darul Islam, and the Five Percenters. The authors document the challenges and issues that American Muslims face, such as prejudice and racism; pressure from overseas Muslims; dress and education; the influence of Islamic revivalism on the development of the community in this country; and the maintenance of Muslim identity amidst the pressure for assimilation.

This useful resource provides basic information about Islamic life in the United States. Coverage includes population statistics and analysis, as well as immigration information that tracks the settlement of Islamic people in the America. The guide contains contact information for mosques, community organizations, schools, women's groups, media, and student groups. Recent Islamic-American events over the past five years are also reviewed. To see the Introduction, the table of contents, a generous selection of sample pages, and more, visit the The North American Muslim Resource Guide website.

Focusing on the private and public use of space, this volume explores the religious life of the new Muslim communities in North America and Europe. Unlike most studies of immigrant groups, these essays concentrate on cultural practices and expressions of everyday life rather than on the political issues that dominate today's headlines. The authors emphasize the cultural strength and creativity of communities that draw upon Islamic symbols and practices to define "Muslim space" against the background of a non-Muslim environment. The range of perspectives is broad, encompassing middle-class professionals, mosque congregations, factory workers in France and the north of England, itinerant African traders, and prison inmates in New York. The truism that "Islam is a religion of the word" takes on concrete meaning as these disparate communities find ways to elaborate word-centered ritual and to have the visual and aural presence of sacred words in the spaces they inhabit. The volume includes 46 black-and-white photographs that illustrate Muslim populations in Edmonton, Philadelphia, the Green Haven Correction Facility, Manhattan, Marseilles, Berlin, and London, among other places. The focus on space directs attention to the new kinds of boundaries and consciousness that exist not only for these Muslim populations, but for people from all backgrounds in today's ever more integrated world.

This book consists of fifteen studies addressed to the relatively recent phenomenon of Muslims residing in North America, their adaptation to an often alien way of life, as well as the problem the larger North American community faces in not only accepting but also benefiting from the existence of this new group. Most of the papers were presented at a symposium on Islam in North America, held at the University of Alberta from May 27 to 31, 1980. In this book the studies are grouped under six major headings: "Islam and the Modern World," "Muslims in North America: Dynamics of Growth," "Muslim Immigrant Communities: Identity and Adaptation," "Islam and the Educational Establishment," "Indigenous Muslims," and "Statements from within the Tradition." It is an excellent introduction to a subject of great interest, fraught with problems and needing further in-depth research.

First published in 1992, this book focuses on the Muslim community and how it has developed in North America. Divided into eight sections, it traces the history of the Muslim community in North America from the nineteenth century to the end of the twentieth-century and examines different aspects of the community such as Sectarian Movements, Islam in the African American community and points of contact between Christian and Islamic communities. The text includes a number of bibliographies to aid further study and closes with a helpful directory of Muslim organizations and centers in North America. This book will be of particular interest to those studying Islam and Religion in North America.

Islam in the United States has developed a fascinating and diverse range of interpretations. Based in large part on community documents and on interviews and correspondence with community members, this study is the first look at these sectarian movements in the hundred-year history of Muslim religious development in the United States.

The issue of veiling has been remarkably under-researched and over-ideologized. In recent years, the adoption of the veil has come to symbolize a brave expression of choice: women reaching out to tradition, but hoping it will not jeopardize their place in the larger North American society. It is with this in mind that the Canadian Council of Muslim Women (CCMW) invited scholars in the fields of anthropology, history, sociology, and Islamic studies to carry out a systematic study of issues surrounding different practices of the hijab among Muslim communities. This book is the result of that study.

*Winner of the Wilfrid Eggleston Award for Nonfiction* *Selected as a Most Anticipated Book of Fall by The Globe and Mail and The Toronto Star* An insightful and perspective-shifting new book, from a celebrated journalist, about reclaiming identity and revealing the surprising history of the Muslim diaspora in the west—from the establishment of Canada’s first mosque through to the long-lasting effects of 9/11 and the devastating Quebec City mosque shooting. “Until recently, Muslim identity was imposed on me. But I feel different about my religious heritage in the era of ISIS and Trumpism, Rohingya and Uyghur genocides, ethnonationalism and misinformation. I’m compelled to reclaim the thing that makes me a target. I’ve begun to examine Islam closely with an eye for how it has shaped my values, politics, and connection to my roots. No doubt, Islam has a place within me. But do I have a place within it?” Omar Mouallem grew up in a Muslim household, but always questioned the role of Islam in his life. As an adult, he used his voice to criticize what he saw as the harms of organized religion. But none of that changed the way others saw him. Now, as a father, he fears the challenges his children will no doubt face as Western nations become increasingly nativist and hostile toward their heritage. In Praying to the West, Mouallem explores the unknown history of Islam across the Americas, traveling to thirteen unique mosques in search of an answer to how this religion has survived and thrived so far from the place of its origin. From California to Quebec, and from Brazil to Canada’s icy north, he meets the members of fascinating communities, all of whom provide different perspectives on what it means to be Muslim. Along this journey he comes to understand that Islam has played a fascinating role in how the Americas were shaped—from industrialization to the changing winds of politics. And he also discovers that there may be a place for Islam in his own life, particularly as a father, even if he will never be a true believer. Original, insightful, and beautifully told, Praying to the West reveals a secret history of home and the struggle for belonging taking place in towns and cities across the Americas, and points to a better, more inclusive future for everyone.